Annie Mole's, webmaster of Going Underground, daily web log (blog).
If you like this you'll LURVE One Stop Short of Barking, THE fun and informative BOOK about travelling on the London Underground.
A couple of years ago, me and a number of bloggers went to see Mark & Maxwell Roberts talk about underground maps, logos, design & station architecture around the world. Mark's remained in contact with me over the years and has contributed some great maps and pictures to the blog - including the popular World Metro Map below:
Mark now lives in Paris, so I'm really looking forward to reading his new book, specially as I have a weekend in Paris at the beginning of December.
He told me that Paris Métro Style shows why Paris has more variations of its map in existence than any other urban transit system in the world. The book also answers questions us Londoners might be interested in such as:
When did the Métro finally adopt a London Underground Beck-like diagram?
Why are there still different types of map available – both diagrammatic and geographic?
Why didn't the Paris Métro introduce a unified font for all stations, signage and printed material until almost 50 years after London?
Where are the best examples of Art Nouveau station architecture and how much has been destroyed?
Which international designers were linked with the graphic evolution?
Mark said "In such a well-documented and highly photographed city as Paris I hope this book provides a fresh angle to see it from. I'd love it to help illuminate the 'city of light' from an unusual perspective (not just answering designers' questions) with style and stimulating images. I hope it will be a mine of information and a thing of beauty for the casual reader too".
Mark also knows that I've run a number of quizzes in the past and has posed some London Underground and Paris Métro questions for you to ponder over:
Which is the only London Underground station to have an identical name as one on the Paris Métro?
Where on the Paris Métro can the famous London Underground Johnston font regularly be seen?
Which London underground station has the French word for "wood" in its name?
Which Paris Métro station (just like "Bull and Bush" on the Northern Line) was only built at platform level and never opened to the public?
What are the four stations on the Paris Métro and the London Underground (two in each city) with only four letters in their name.
Name the (now closed) Paris Métro station which had the same name as a London Tube station which started its life as Gillespie Road?
What's the only Paris Métro station named after a British monarch - also currently a terminal station of the DLR?
Because I'm feeling generous, I've dived into my bag of Tube goodies and have some prizes of Mind the Gap beer spillage mats (perfect for mopping up Stella Artois) and some Mind the Gap fridge magnets. There are four prizes & entering is simple - just answer one question (not the one the person ahead of you has answered).
Four winners will be randomly selected by my cat Bolli. He did it for Nom Nom Nom so I'm sure can be bribed to do it again.
Leave your answer in the comments below by 11.59pm UK time on the 29th November. Remember to leave your email address or a blog or some way for me to contact you, otherwise I won't be able to send your prize if you win.
Thanks to Mark for devising the quiz questions and best of luck with the launch of the book. It sounds like it would make a great Christmas present for design students, map geeks and transport enthusiasts everywhere.
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